Welcome to Transfigurations! This blog is intended to serve the orthodox Anglican community and the wider Christian community. We pray that all that is posted here will be faithful to the Scriptures as the inspired word of God, speak the truth in love, edify, bless and transform this local body of Christ, and be an impetus for revival, repentance, prayer and intercession!

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Why We Must Care: A Letter from the Desk of Bishop John Guernsey

The following letter by Bishop John Guernsey originally appeared on the website of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic of the Anglican Church of North America.

Dear Friends,

The murder trial of the Philadelphia abortionist, Dr. Kermit Gosnell, has been of great interest and deep concern to me. I wish I could say it had captured the attention of the nation, but, as you may know, it was largely ignored by the media. (The executive editor of the Washington Post said he hadn’t been aware of the story.) The trial was sickening, not because of the filth in the clinic, not because of the body parts of fetuses in jars, not because of the reprehensibly irresponsible medical care which caused the death of 41-year old Karnamaya Mongar of Woodbridge, VA. The trial wasn’t sickening because it showed something exceptional, but because it showed what abortion is and does. For many years, the pro-life movement has emphasized the link between abortion and infanticide. The ethic that defends the killing of babies in the womb so easily leads to justifying the killing of them a few minutes later and a few inches away, just outside the womb. But in recent months the support of infanticide in the pro-abortion movement has grown and become increasingly clear.

A Planned Parenthood lobbyist testified in March against a Florida bill that would require abortionists to provide emergency medical care to a baby who survives an abortion. She was asked, “If a baby is born on a table as a result of a botched abortion, what would Planned Parenthood want to have happen to that child that’s struggling for life?” She answered: “We believe that any decision that’s made should be left up to the woman, her family, and the physician.” You can read about this and see the video here.
This is not merely a theoretical discussion. Infanticide is practiced in America far more than most of us realize. Live Action, the pro-life organization founded by Lila Rose when she was just 15 years old, has recorded a series of undercover videos at late term abortion clinics. These stunning videos demonstrate that Dr. Gosnell is not an exception. The murder of infants after being born alive during an abortion is all too common. the rest